"A large
red automobile, guaranteed to cut streaks through the air, has been received
by Chief Lips of the Fire Department."

Such was the
heading and first paragraph of an article in a Los Angeles newspaper of
October 7, 1908. And following is a description of the vehicle and
what it was expected to accomplish in accelerating fire fighting.

The car, a
Haynes, had been purchased by the city at a cost of $3,300. It was to
be used by the Chief who, with his chauffeur, would be enabled to reach
fires in much shorter time than the horse-drawn apparatus, he being present
to survey the blaze so the placing of men and equipment could be materially
speeded.

The first
call the new equipment attended was a small blaze at First and
Broadway. According to the paper the Chief was at the scene before the
alarm had stopped tapping.

From Chief Lips
came this declaration: "We expect to do great things with this
car. In the first place I can cover about three times as much
territory, keep in connection with all the sub-stations, and have my eye on
the entire department. The automobile has been badly needed. It
is a dangerous thing to take a horse hitched to a light wagon through the
crowded section of the business district. The animal knows he is
expected to cover ground, and he does it regardless of obstacles.

"Los
Angeles has grown so that the auto-apparatus has become an absolute
necessity. An automobile can make almost five times the speed of the
fastest horses in the department, and can be stopped almost instantly to
avoid collision, where running horses would precipitate an accident.
The auto is efficient on wet paving, where the horses have to be driven at a
trot to prevent slipping."

*

Then on March 4,
1910, there appears this heading and story:

"Fire
Chief May Have to Abandon Auto."

Chief Lips of the Fire Department
may be compelled to dispense with the use of the handsome automobile provided
for his department, return to the 'good old fashioned way' and depend
upon hoses to take him to fires.

Fire Commissioner Maloney at the meeting of the Fire Commission
yesterday could see no good reason why the Chief should be privileged
to an automobile, necessitating the employment of a chauffeur, whose salary
of $100 per month might be saved to the city.

He did not think the Chief needed an automobile and moved that the
services of Lips' chauffeur be dispensed with. There was no second to
the motion and the matter was laid over for a week for further
consideration.

Mayor Alexander was inclined to favor the proposition of dispensing
with the chauffeur, and asked Chief Lips if he could not learn to
drive the automobile himself. Lips said he probably could do so,
but pointed out that a driver was a valuable asset and often assisted
at fires.

This article appeared in the October, 1943 issue of The
Firemen's Grape Vine.